KEY POINTS:
Whangarei Mayor Stan Semenoff is expected to announce a crackdown on bar opening hours today, driven in part by an alcohol-fuelled brawl in Raumanga that left two people in hospital.
The February 29 fracas involved between 100 and 200 members of rival youth gangs and - in the words of a top policeman - left Warwick Place looking like a war zone.
Speaking in the brawl's immediate aftermath, Mr Semenoff said he was keen to see bar hours cut back in Whangarei's CBD.
A meeting between the mayor and bar owners discussed opening hours, and an announcement is expected tonight to tie in with the annual Host Responsibility Awards.
Mr Semenoff is keeping mum about his plans - but it is thought he will bring in a lock-in policy allowing pubs to stay open, but forcing them to shut their doors to new patrons after 2am.
Vine St bars and clubs such as Danger Danger and Heaven are open until 4am or 4.30am on Saturdays and Sundays.
The lock-in would mean revellers would be unable to go back to their cars for alcohol and then return to the bars after 2am, and would have no reason to be on the street after that time - giving police a free hand to send loiterers home.
Bar owners opposed moves to close drinking establishments completely at 1am or 2am, saying that would lead to large numbers of patrons on Vine St all at once with no way of getting home - a recipe for trouble.
After the brawl, Whangarei's top policeman, Inspector Paul Dimery, said closing bars earlier could help ease the problem of out-of-control groups of youths.
While many of the troublemakers were too young to drink in the bars, or could not afford to, the carpark in Vine St acts as a magnet for people who can't get into the bars.
Alcohol Accord - a group of bar and related business owners dedicated to reducing inner-city crime - says the real problem is cheap alcohol at supermarkets and wholesalers.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
